Activity: National Recycling Week – Closing the Paper Recycling Loop – NAPLAN Style Persuasive Writing Practice – Years 5 & 6

Quick summary: In this lesson, students will learn about the paper recycling loop and the impact that choosing recycled products can have. Students will consider the persuasive text type and then plan, draft and write a persuasive piece that uses key information from the Planet Ark “Australian Paper Closing the Local Recycle Loop” video. This lesson can be used as valuable practise for NAPLAN*.

 Activity developed in partnership with Planet Ark

This lesson has been developed as part of Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week and also supports the Make it Australian Recycled program, which aims to raise awareness around the benefits of using recycled products, including paper. Register your lesson or other activities so they can be counted towards the national achievement and to receive other free support materials.

Learning goals:

• Students practise the persuasive writing task that is featured in the National Assessment Program’s writing test administered in years 3, 5, 7 & 9. 
• Students will better understand the persuasive text type and some of the techniques used within the genre to persuade audiences. 
• Students will be able to plan, draft and write a persuasive text in response to a set prompt.
• Students write their opinion and draw on personal knowledge and experience when responding to set prompts.

General capabilities: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking, Intercultural Understanding, Ethical Understanding.

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability OI.6.

Australian Curriculum Mapping

Year 5 English

• Understand how texts vary in purpose, structure and topic as well as the degree of formality (ACELA1504)  
• Show how ideas and points of view in texts are conveyed through the use of vocabulary, including idiomatic expressions, objective and subjective language , and that these can change according to context (ACELY1698) 
• Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students’ own experiences and present and justify a point of view (ACELY1699)
• Identify and explain characteristic text structures and language features used in imaginative, informative and persuasive texts to meet the purpose of the text (ACELY1701)  
• Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print and digital sources (ACELY1703)  
• Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive print and multimodal texts, choosing text structures, language features, images and sound appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1704)  
• Re-read and edit student’s own and others’ work using agreed criteria for text structures and language features (ACELY1705)  
• Develop a handwriting style that is becoming legible, fluent and automatic (ACELY1706)  

Year 6 English

• Identify and explain how analytical images like figures, tables, diagrams, maps and graphs contribute to our understanding of verbal information in factual and persuasive texts (ACELA1524)  
• Identify and explain how choices in language, for example modality, emphasis, repetition and metaphor, influence personal response to different texts (ACELT1615)  
• Compare texts including media texts that represent ideas and events in different ways, explaining the effects of the different approaches (ACELY1708)  
• Participate in and contribute to discussions, clarifying and interrogating ideas, developing and supporting arguments, sharing and evaluating information, experiences and opinions (ACELY1709) 
• Analyse how text structures and language features work together to meet the purpose of a text (ACELY1711)  
• Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse information and ideas, comparing content from a variety of textual sources including media and digital texts (ACELY1713)  
• Plan, draft and publish imaginative, informative and persuasive texts, choosing and experimenting with text structures, language features, images and digital resources appropriate to purpose and audience (ACELY1714) 
• Re-read and edit students’ own and others’ work using agreed criteria and explaining editing choices (ACELY1715)  
• Develop a handwriting style that is legible, fluent and automatic and varies according to audience and purpose (ACELY1716)  

Year 5 Achievement Standards: Students use language features to show how ideas can be extended. They develop and explain a point of view about a text, selecting information, ideas and images from a range of resources. Students create imaginative, informative and persuasive texts for different purposes and audiences. When writing, they demonstrate understanding of grammar using a variety of sentence types. They select specific vocabulary and use accurate spelling and punctuation. They edit their work for cohesive structure and meaning.

Year 6 Achievement Standards: Students understand how the use of text structures can achieve particular effects. They analyse and explain how language features, images and vocabulary are used by different authors to represent ideas, characters and events. Students understand how language features and language patterns can be used for emphasis. They show how specific details can be used to support a point of view. Students create detailed texts elaborating on key ideas for a range of purposes and audiences.

Syllabus Outcomes: EN3-1A, EN3-2A, EN3-3A, EN3-6B, EN3-8D, EN3-5B 

Topic: National Recycling Week.

Time required: 90 mins.

Level of teacher scaffolding: Medium – oversee activities, facilitate discussion.

Resources required: Internet access, Student Worksheet (one copy per student OR computers/tablets to access the online worksheet), pen and paper for persuasive writing, projector and speakers, Cool Australia Presents – How to be Persuasive – Year 5 & 6.

Digital technology opportunities: Digital sharing capabilities.

Homework and extension opportunities: Includes opportunities for homework and extension.

Keywords: recycling, paper, manufacturing, recycling loop, Planet Ark.

*This lesson plan is not an officially endorsed publication of NAPLAN’s creators and administrators – the ACARA body – but is designed to provide practise for the Australian Curriculum’s compulsory NAPLAN testing scheme.

Cool Australia’s curriculum team continually reviews and refines our resources to be in line with changes to the Australian Curriculum.